Teams: Women's Basketball: Press Releases

SURE-SHOOTER COLLEEN HART TAKES SECOND NESCAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD

Junior Colleen Hart has won two of the four NESCAC Player of the Week awards this year

MEDFORD -- How hot is junior guard Colleen Hart (Needham, MA) of the Tufts University women's basketball team? She entered last week shooting a sizzling 51.2 percent from three-point territory (22/43) and she improved upon that mark in three games. Her 11 for 19 success (61.1 percent) on threes was only part of a performance that earned Hart her second New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Player of the Week honor.

Hart, who shares this week's conference honor with Lauren Yanofsky from Bates, averaged 21 points per game in Tufts wins against Wheaton College, Maine Maritime Academy, and Regis College. With the last two victories, Tufts captured the Park Lodge Tournament title, and Hart was named the Most Valuable Player. For the week overall, Hart also averaged 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.3 steals per game while shooting 58.5 percent (24/41) overall.

In the game against Maine Maritime, Hart became the Tufts program's all-time leader in three-pointers. Her trifecta with 3:22 remaining in the second half was the 140th of her career, moving her past Valerie Krah on the Jumbo list. Krah had 139 three-pointers from 2003-07. Hart added two more in the tournament final against Regis on Sunday, and is now 142 for 358 (.397) on threes in 66 career games.

Hart topped 20 points in all three games last week. At Wheaton on Monday, she was good on nine of 16 field goal attempts, including four for seven on threes to finish with 22 points along with five rebounds. In the tournament opener against Maine Maritime on Saturday night, Hart scored on five of six three-point attempts and was eight for 12 overall from the floor (21 points) while adding four's in rebounds, assists, and steals. She finished the week with 20 points against Regis.

For the season, Hart leads NESCAC in scoring with 19.0 points per game. Her .541 three-point percentage (33/61) is fourth in the league, though her 33 makes lead the league and are far more than anyone else ranked in the percentage top 10. She's also among NESCAC's top 10 for field goal percentage (tied for eighth), steals, and assists (tied for ninth in both).

Hart earned the first conference Player of the Week award of the 2009-10 season on November 23. Tufts has now had a player honored in three of the four weeks this season.

The Jumbos, winner of eight in a row following a season-opening loss, are off for the next two weeks during exams and the holidays. Coach Carla Berube's team returns to action on December 28 when they play Allegheny at the Land of Magic Classic in Daytona, Florida.

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